Novartis bribery probe in Greece ‘could affect general election’

The journal says a judicial investigation into claims that payments were made by Novartis to top government officials - whilst Greece was in the depths of its recent financial crisis - is becoming a battleground that could have a material impact on the country’s forthcoming general election.

The scandal centres around claims that Novartis gave “bundles of cash” to a number of civil servants, doctors and politicians, including two former Prime Ministers for the current opposition party and the former head of the country’s central bank. The investigation has been rumbling on for years, but stepped up a gear in early 2017 after the attempted suicide of a company official.

There’s a lot at stake for both sides, says the report. On the one hand, if one of the prominent opposition politicians is charged it would be a big boost to the ruling left-wing Syriza party, but on the other if no charges are brought the government will be seen as ineffectual - particularly as it swept to power in 2015 on promises that it would tackle corruption.

The situation has come to a head after anonymous testimonies collected during the investigation were sent to the Greek Parliament in February, with debate now focusing on whether senior political figures named in those testimonies should be made public.

All the accused parties - including Novartis - are denying any wrongdoing and thus far no charges have been filed - although Politico says it has been told that “formal charges against public officials” are expected in the coming months. read more »

Volcker Rule Changes Move Forward After SEC Votes on Overhaul

Regulators appointed by President Donald Trump are a step closer to rolling back the Volcker Rule, a constraint that was key to Washington’s efforts to make banks safer after the 2008 financial crisis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-to-2 on Tuesday to seek public comment on the Volcker revamp, the last of five agencies that needed to sign off on the proposal.

The plan for revising Volcker, which was named for former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, is a significant win for banks that have long argued the original rule was overly complex and costly to comply with. The Federal Reserve became the first agency to move the proposal forward last week, followed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and now the SEC.

The proposal maintains Volcker’s ban on proprietary trading, in which banks invest for their own profits rather than on behalf of customers.  read more »

Brexit vote not won fairly, Cambridge Analytica whistleblower tells MEPs

Whistleblower Christopher Wylie has told the European Parliament that the influence of Cambridge Analytica on the Brexit referendum has rendered its result illegitimate.

Wylie, a former employee of data marketing firm, revealed recently how the firm used personal information harvested from millions of Facebook users to build software designed to influence their political choices. read more »

Florida doctor admits taking kickbacks from Insys, others

A Florida doctor has admitted, as part of a plea deal, that he received kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics Inc in exchange for writing prescriptions for a powerful fentanyl-based pain medicine.

Dr. Michael Frey, 46, pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court in Fort Myers, Florida, to conspiring to receive kickbacks from a medical equipment provider and a pharmacy sales representative.

As part of a plea agreement, he also admitted that Chandler, Arizona-based Insys paid him kickbacks in the form of fees to participate in largely bogus speaker event programs so that he would prescribe its opioid product Subsys, prosecutors said.

“This was an alarming case of a physician who abused his position of trust for money,” U.S. Attorney Chapa Lopez for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement.

Under his plea agreement, Frey agreed to cooperate with authorities in their investigation of other people. He also agreed to pay $2.8 million as part of a related civil settlement.

A lawyer for Frey, who co-owned Fort Myers-based Advanced Pain Management Specialists, did not respond to a request for comment. Insys also did not respond to a request for comment. read more »